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Rawlings-Blake called the success an important milestone for the city.

The mayor said thanks to the Safe Streets team and the community for the hard work they've done in reducing violence. The last fatal shooting in Cherry Hill was April 22, 2014.

The Safe Streets team recognized the accomplishment with a cookout, games and other family-oriented activities.

The team and members of the community have mediated conflicts that could have led to shootings.

The innovative program focuses on public safety and public health.

"With the Safe Streets models, the health department is using an innovative strategy to deal with homicides, almost like you would a contagious disease, you interrupt it from spreading and that's what these street teams are doing. They are violence interrupters," Rawlings-Blake said.

"We see violence as a public health issue. We see it as a disease that spreads from person to person and that may sound bad, but we actually think that's a good thing because it means we can prevent violence from spreading and that means we can stop it as well," Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen said.

Rawlings-Blake said she won't be discouraged by the surge of violence and programs like Safe Streets Zone give hope that violence can be controlled.